Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8G AF-S IF-ED - £1065/$1425

A hefty lens with battleship build quality, this 17-55mm is the discerning professional's choice. Indeed, there's nothing amateurish about its price tag. Even so, the cheaper equivalent Sigma and Tamron lenses both feature optical stabilisation, which is lacking in the Nikon lens.

The 17-55mm's ring-type ultrasonic autofocus system is spectacularly fast and unerringly accurate. It's even faster than the similar system fitted to both the Nikon 16-85mm and Sigma 24-70mm lenses on test. There's plenty of travel in the focus ring, too, which aids precise manual focusing in MF mode and when overriding autofocus.

Overall image quality is excellent, but sharpness is no better than with the Nikon 16-85mm lens in the 17-55mm sector of its zoom range. Sure, the cheaper Nikon's sharpness drops off a little at 85mm, but the pro lens doesn't offer this focal length anyway.

Distortion is similar between the two lenses, and fringing is slightly better on the 16-85mm. The only real bonus of this lens is the larger maximum aperture, which is just over a stop faster.

Sharpness test

A good performer, but sharpness isn't better than it is in the 17-55mm portion of the Nikon 16-85mm lens' range.